'I will not give my baby away,' vows mother of toddler Elton John wanted to adopt

Sir Elton John's wish to adopt a Ukrainian toddler has hit a further stumbling block after a woman claiming to be his mother insisted 'I will not give my baby away'.

Alcoholic Marina Timoshenko, 25, who has only seen her son Lev once since he was taken into care in May, hopes to regain custody of her son again when she conquers her addictions.

The singer and his partner David Furnish announced their hopes to adopt Lev, 15 months, last month after they met the tot at an orphanage in Donetsk, Ukraine.

Smitten: Sir Elton John said 15-month-old Lev had 'stolen his heart' when they met at an orphanage last month

However, he Ukrainian government ruled them out as potential adopters because they were gay.

Ukrainian law also stipulates there must be an age
gap of no more than 45 years between a child and its adoptive parents.

The government said Lev's mother had not given up her parental rights either, so Lev was not a potential candidate for adoption.

However, as a compromise, John and Furnish were told they could be considered for a guardianship role in Lev's life.

Marina, who is HIV positive and separated from Lev's father Sergey, admitted she turned to drink after suffering financial problems.

Family hopes: Elton's partner David Furnish has long wanted a child

Her subsequent behaviour and poor living conditions prompted Ukrainian social services to act and took Lev and his brother Artyom, three, into care.

But Marina vowed to The Sun: 'I will not give my baby away to Elton John for any money.

'Lev is a mummy's boy. He needs em and I have not given up my rights over him.

'I want to talk to Elton. I want to tell him how much I love Lev...

'I'm going to overcome my problems. I so much want my babies back.'

Lev's father Sergey, 31, who served eight years in prison after strangling a 14-year-old girl and leaving her to die in a Russian lake, said he was planning to fight Marina for custody of their two sons.

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He said: 'I don't want Elton to take my boys. I won't let Elton take Marina and the children to Britain and be their guardian.'

Having previously decided against becoming a father, Elton admitted he had changed his mind after meeting Lev.

Elton said last month: 'David always wanted to adopt a child and I always said no
because I am 62 and I think because of the travelling I do and the life
I have, maybe it wouldn't be fair for the child.

'But having seen Lev today, I would love to adopt him. I don't know how we do that but he has stolen my heart.'

Ukrainian families minister Yuriy Pavlenko said: 'Elton John has the right and opportunity to invite the family of this boy to bisit him, take them under his guardianship and help him grow into a good person.'